December 12th is Poinsettia Day. The date marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, an American botanist, physician and Minister to Mexico who in 1828 sent cuttings of the plant he'd discovered in Southern Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina. The plant has now spread all over the world.

The Poinsettia, for the unaware, is the lovely scarlet house plant that makes its appearance each year just in time for Christmas. The plant flowers between December and January, although it can be colourful for longer if treated with lots of TLC. The fact that they originate in Mexico tells us that they are warmth loving plants that do that do not like to be swamped with water – especially cold water!

Please note that the red petals are not flower heads, they are called bracts and are closer to being leaves than flowers. Nurseries and other growers often keep the plants in the dark prior to sale to encourage the scarlet colour to deepen, for those rare folks who can keep their Poinsettia plant viable for a second or subsequent years it is worth putting your plant under the stairs where it is in low light for the next couple of weeks to bring it back to its proper colour.

Westwells Florist are specialists in supplying flowers and plants for any event and season.

Westwells is full to the brim of the finest Poinsettias in time for Poinsettia Day so that you can buy one in plenty of time for Christmas. Buying plants is about buying good quality, and with Westwells Florist, you will experience just that. Westwells is run by people who love flowers and plants, they care for them correctly and they will advise their customers on how to care for them to best effect. After all flowers are their business, not cans of beans.

Make sure you care for your Christmas Poinsettia, i.e. not watered correctly – over or under watered, if they are stored or handle them incorrectly, they might not end up as beautiful. There are few things worse than buying ones Mum a lovely Poinsettia for Christmas only to see it fall apart within days of getting it home.

A beautiful Poinsettia should look stunning right through Christmas and New Year, and into 2016 if it is loved. However, keep it away from cold drafts, water it sparingly with tepid water, do not over water it – more houseplants die from over watering than under watering. If it is happy it will come back next year!